Poe the Raven
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- Mar 16, 2019
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Ravens coach John Harbaugh’s team plays not far from the nation’s capital. He has a clear message for the men and women who run the federal government there: Make Juneteenth a national holiday.
“It is a venerable and highly honorable day in our history as a nation on par with Independence Day and Memorial Day,” Harbaugh told Jamison Hensley of ESPN. “It represents the redeeming of the ideals that our country was founded on. Juneteenth or Freedom Day marks our true turn towards liberty for all.”
Harbaugh, who never minces words, has left no doubt as to his position on this issue.
“Personally, I feel strongly about this, and am trusting our leaders to do the right thing,” Harbaugh said.
The message meshes with Harbaugh’s comments on a recent video created by the team regarding the nation’s staging history of racial inequality.
“I’m angry about it and I’m embarrassed about it,” Harbaugh said on the video, via ESPN. “I’m embarrassed as an American. Our nation was founded on ideals that are far greater than that kind of behavior. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”
Properly honoring the end of slavery is just one step in the slow march to equality, however. While June 19, 1865 marked the end of one set of horrors for black Americans, the past 155 years have included countless other injustices and indignities, many of which are conveniently overlooked in the history books.